Company covers perils on set

Thursday

Mar 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMMar 29, 2012 at 11:03 AM

Here's one for the Hunger Games crowd: What if, in that blood-tingling climactic scene near the Cornucopia, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) had skewered poor Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) with a wayward silver arrow?

Here’s one for the Hunger Games crowd: What if, in that blood-tingling climactic scene near the Cornucopia, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) had skewered poor Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) with a wayward silver arrow?

In the real world of Hollywood, questions such as that nag Paul Holehouse.

Holehouse, 63, isn’t a Games fanatic, but he plays an unusual — and unusually high-stakes — role in modern moviedom. His job is to ensure that, as they might say in The Hunger Games, the odds are ever in his company’s favor.

He is a longtime risk consultant for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., the go-to insurer for the American entertainment industry.

The 149-year-old company, best-known for automobile and homeowners insurance, has also carved a lucrative niche for itself in Hollywood.

Fireman’s Fund, part of the German insurance giant Allianz, won’t insure against box-office losses.

Holehouse’s job is to assess the risks associated with making movies. The risks are as varied as the health and habits of the actors and the dangers posed by the stunts, sets and locations.

Even in the best of circumstances — say, a sweet romantic comedy — figuring out what might go wrong is daunting.

Even before director Gary Ross began shooting Games, Holehouse had to do some risk analysis. (Neither Lionsgate nor Fireman’s Fund would discuss the cost of the insurance, which for action movies accounts for as much as 4 percent of a movie’s total costs, studio heads and insurers said.)

Holehouse traveled to North Carolina to check out the location, deep within DuPont State Forest. He took into account bugs, poison ivy, falling trees — anything that might pose a threat to the actors or the production schedule. He considered a chase scene across fast-running water, as well as the dangers posed by abandoned warehouses that were used as part of the set — and, of course, the arrows, swords and other weaponry.

Then there were the bears. When the movie’s location manager spotted a bear near the set one day, the cast and crew were asked not to bring food to the area.

“Over time, bears do find food and people,” Holehouse said. “We all had to drive off out of the property to have our lunch and dinner.”

Of course, insurance has been part of the motion-picture business since the early days.

Ben Turpin, a cross-eyed comedian remembered for his work in silent films, is said to have bought an insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London, payable if his eyes ever uncrossed. Betty Grable insured her legs for $1 million. Jimmy Durante took out a $50,000 policy on his nose.

But as movies have become more expensive and complex, so has insuring them.

Today, Fireman’s Fund dominates the business. It insures 80 to 85?percent of major Hollywood films produced in the United States, 60 percent of all TV reality shows, three of the five top-grossing music festivals and seven of Billboard’s top 10 artists of the year.

According to the company, it posted 10 percent growth in gross premiums in 2011, with the biggest increase coming from live events, where premiums rose 25 percent.

Last year, it insured more than 250 films and events.

Sometimes, despite all of Fireman’s precautions, fate intervenes.

In 1994, for instance, actor John Candy died of a heart attack at the age of 43 while making Wagons East! in Durango, Mexico. Fireman’s Fund had provided the film insurance.

Estimated at $15 million, “It was the most expensive claim that I can remember, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” said Wendy Diaz, who uses Holehouse’s assessments to underwrite movie policies at Fireman’s Fund.

Risks can be lowered but rarely eliminated. For The Hunger Games, Lionsgate brought in Khatuna Lorig, a four-time archery Olympian, to train Lawrence.

One time, while goofing around off-camera, Lawrence told Hutcherson that she could kick her leg over his head. She missed, and her foot hit his temple, knocking him unconscious.

Stars have often been required to undergo medical exams before shooting. But after Candy’s death, Fireman’s Fund began paying closer attention to actors’ cardiovascular health and weight. Candy was overweight and smoked.

“All the signs were there,” Diaz said. Now, “We adjust the terms, the premiums and deductibles on each artist as we underwrite them.”

Aside from death, the biggest risks are injuries and illnesses that lead to costly delays, which, on major films, can run $250,000 or more a day.

When Patrick Swayze fell off a horse and hit a tree, breaking both legs, during the filming of the 1998 crime drama Letters From a Killer, he was laid up for six weeks, Diaz recalled. Swayze was a proficient rider, so a stunt double wasn’t brought in. But Fireman’s Fund, Diaz said, wasn’t aware that he would be riding through a forest.

Stunts, of course, are always a worry.

Angelina Jolie insisted on performing many of her own stunts for Salt, including riding a motorcycle, jumping off a bridge and dangling from a high-rise building. The insurers insisted on a safety harness.

Occasionally, though, not even precautions are enough. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Pink performed an aerial act that involved spinning on a long silk scarf suspended above the audience while singing Glitter in the Air. Holehouse watched her rehearse several times before giving approval.

Although Fireman’s Fund insured the stunt for the Grammys, it declined to extend the coverage to Pink’s tour.

“We weren’t comfortable,” he said.

Good call: The act later ran into trouble in Germany, when a problem with the safety harness caused Pink to tumble into a barricade, sending her to the hospital.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.